On the Brink of Darkness
by starlightxlilies
Summary: Snippets of Snape's adolescence at at hogwarts and how one girl, Lily Evans, could have changed his heart for the better, but didn't.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for the few that I made up, like Professor Dockase or the roommates. The rest are from J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series._

_author's note: we'll start with snape's first few days at hogwarts, and then afterwards, time will just keep flying by. keep the year in mind. i wanted to present him as somewhat of an innocent as first, and we'll slowly see his fall to darkness and eventually to the employment of voldemort. this is the story of snape's fall, as he stands "On the Brink of Darkness." and how one girl, Lily Evans, could have saved him from falling over completely, but didn't._

1971 - First Year

The stars were twinkling in the silent sky as the pale boy looked out from his cold window, at the edge of a tower in Hogwarts. It was his first year here and he was nervous, seeing so many people his age. Already he had earned a nickname, Snivellus. His eyes shut tightly, remembering the taunts from the previous hour. It had been a smug-looking boy with glasses with another young man who had dark hair that had been at the forefront of those taunts.

Severus felt betrayed. He had come to the school hoping to make friends, hoping to find companions who would understand him, but he had been met with jeering, right from the start. What was wrong with him? He continued to look up at the stars, constant and beautiful as they smiled down at the world. There was no one who would hear his cries of anguish, so he merely put his forehead to the window and sighed deeply. It was only the first day. Perhaps tomorrow would be better, but he seriously doubted it. All his life he had hoped for a better tomorrow, and it had never come. He suddenly made a small fist and grit his teeth together. He'd show them, tomorrow in class. He had spent all summer studying the prescribed books, eager for schooling. He could not have known that already, he knew more hexes and spells than most seventh years.

Suddenly he heard the doorknob turning and his roommates walked into the room. "Jeez Severus, why are you always in the dark?" an annoyed voice whined from the open doorway. "Yea, sittin' there all gloomy by ya'self. No wonder people don' like ya," said his other roommate, a tall, thin boy with dirty blonde hair. Severus had not taken the liberty of remembering their names yet, he didn't care to anymore. He felt deeply saddened inside, but he couldn't let them know that, it was a weakness, so he stayed silent, ignoring them completely. They stared at each other a bit, flipped on the lights, and began to talk about their first day at Hogwarts.

The dark-haired boy sitting by the window found his roomates annoying and foolishly giddy. Hogwarts. Of all the promises it had presented to its students, the only one it had kept to him was that he could learn magic here. Severus would show them all.

Lily brushed back her blazing red hair from her face as she looked over the lesson plans set out on her desk. It was her second day of Hogwarts and she was eager to impress, or at least, not to slip up. Already she had made a few friends, but they were now whispering together excitedly at the boys who had suddenly rushed in. One had on thin wire-rimmed glasses and a smirk plastered on his face and the other was combing out his thick dark hair with his long fingers, pretending not to notice the girls sneaking sly glances at him. "Ah, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, so glad you could join us," said their potions professor, a small man with a booming voice. The students were calling him Professor Clockface because his head was so round, but his name was Professor Dockase.

Lily rolled her eyes as "Mr. Potter" looked over at her, still smiling. Obviously he was pleased with himself for being late, though she had no idea why. She was trying to figure out if he wanted something, so she didn't look away, and he merely put up his hand and waved at her, making her blush slightly and then indignantly turn her head. As she did so, she saw across the room, a thin boy with long, dark hair and a pallid face, glaring maliciously towards the Potter boy and his friend. She frowned a bit, wondering how such drama could already take place on only the second day of school.

She saw the pale boy's lips moving slightly, as if he were muttering something, but she couldn't tell what. He was still glaring intently at the two boys across the room, sitting just a few seats left of her, but he was concentrating more so on Potter.

"Alright class," said Professor Dockase, "welcome to Potions. Here you shall learn..." Lily couldn't listen the rest of what he was saying because now she noticed that Potter was frowning slightly, his smirk gone. She watched in horror as little red spots began exploding all over his skin and he got up immediately. "Professor!" The boy yelped.

"What is it now? First you come late to class and-oh my dear boy, what has happened to you?" cried Professor Dockase.

"It..itches," Potter said hesitantly. He presently began scratching at the boils, half-annoyed. He wasn't the least bit worried though. "S-someone, take him to the clinic," Dockase said nervously, then turning to the student nearest him he exclaimed, "Evans! Please escort Mr. Potter to the nurse's office." Lily almost groaned aloud. She was to miss her first potions class to accompany an arrogant idiot to the nurse's?

"Well, hurry it up," Potter pretended to snap at her impatiently. Her eyes widened angrily and she hurredly stood up, stomping towards the door, grabbing Potter's robe as she walked. "Hey, HEY! That hurts," the boy complained, as he was dragged into the hallway.

Before she left the classroom, Lily stole a glance at the pale-faced boy, and he was looking down at his hands, sullen. She had a hunch that he had been the one responsible for the hex, for clearly it was a boils hex. She had read about it over the summer in her spells book. It was only by mere chance, really. She had just been curious.

When they were out of the view of the classroom, Potter abruptly stood still and Lily felt her arm jerk back. Apparently, he was stronger than her pull, and had just been humoring her. "Finally, we're outta there," he exclaimed with a smile. "So, what's your name, Red?" He grinned at her. She wanted to laugh at how ridiculous he looked, trying to flirt with her, yet his face was full of reddish boils. She held back her laugh and began to walk towards the main hallway without giving him a response.

"Aw, c'mon Red, just your name. Ms. Evans is all I know. What's your first name?" he continued, walking behind her. She walked even faster, wondering just where the clinic was. "Alright fine," he said, "I'll just call you Cecilia. You look like a Cecilia. So, are you planning to stay with me in the clinic?"

At this she stopped suddenly and turned around, fuming. "My name is not Cecilia or Red, it's Lily, Lily Evans, get it right you twit. And no, I shall not be accompanying you past the moment you are in the nurse's office. I'm returning to class to learn, ever try it? Now if you would please, Mr. Potter, let's just walk together in silence until we get there."

"You sound like a teacher. But at least you finally say something. _Lily_," he emphasized the last word.

She glared at him once more and he put two fingers at the corner of his lips and pretended to zip them shut. They walked on in silence as Lily hoped she was heading towards the clinic. She began slowing down a bit, and then came to a complete stop. Looking at the boy as if she were seeing him for the first time she said softly, "What's your name?" He looked surprised for a moment and began to open his mouth, and then stopped, remembering that he was suppose to be silent. Instead, he began pantomiming things to her.

"One syllable," she said with all the patience she could muster.

"Sounds like..." she furrowed her eyesbrows, trying to see what he was doing. He was wiggling his fingers and moving his arms upwards. "Sounds like worms?" she tried. He scowled.

"Well excuse me," she said, getting annoyed. "Wiggling, movement, legs, spiders, wind, flower, fire," as soon as she said fire, his eyes grew wide and he got excited. He motioned her to keep going and Lily pouted a bit, "Uh...fire, smoke, burning, sparks, flames. Flames?" He smiled now.

"So, it sounds like flames and it's one syllable," she reasoned aloud. Her delicate fingers were wrapped around her chin in thought and she was staring at the floor, though not truly seeing it. Suddenly she looked up at him, "James?" He began to jump up and down happily, then he bowed to her. They both laughed for a moment and then she said, "Fine, you can talk again, James."

Soon the Bloody Baron came because of all the noise they were making in the hallway and directed them to the clinic.

Meanwhile back in the classroom...

Severus stared at Potter furiously, just seeing his face made him boil. Boil...that could work. He tried to remember the hex for boils on the skin. The Potter boy was looking at a girl with thick red hair and a light dust of freckles across her smooth skin. Severus thought she was actually quite pretty, but he could care less about some girl when there was a hex to be done to a very smug-looking boy across the room. He remembered that he had to maintain eye contact with the subject and soon blocked out all other sounds from the classroom and concentrated on Potter. Then he began muttering the hex under his breath so no one would hear. He was almost finished when he felt someone looking at him, but he couldn't stop now.

There, he had finished. He smirked as Potter's grinning face suddenly morphed into a rather amusing-looking frown. His skin was soon covered in boils and Severus was quite pleased with himself, though he only allowed a slight smile to grace his face. Now Potter would know what it was like to be humiliated in front of everyone else, now he would be the one laughing at Potter. Severus waited for the taunts to come, but they did not. In fact people looked worried, and Potter wasn't acting like he really cared either. Now he was casually scratching at the boils as the Professor assigned the red-haired girl to escort him to the clinic. Severus grit his teeth in anger. Why wasn't he even the least bit agitated? Potter showed no sign of fear or worry. It was irritating.

Severus glared at the floor, sullen at being defeated by Potter yet again, this time without him even doing anything. He sighed deeply and his long dark hair fell from his shoulders as if to create a curtain around his face, hiding him from everyone else. He felt the red-haired girl glancing at him as she passed by. Why was she always staring at him? Unexpected a thought occurred in his head, and his heart fluttered a bit. Perhaps, just maybe...but no, he would not allow himself any thoughts like that, it would only disappoint him in the future. He wasn't particularly charming or handsome, so girls were never interested in him, except when they were laughing with the rest of the class.

Something flew from across the room and landed in his lap. It was a crumpled piece of paper. Severus stared at it for a minute, looking up, but no one looked back at him to indicate that they had been the one to throw the paper. Wincing a bit, Severus uncrumpled the paper and there was one word scrawled on the parchment, "Snivellus." He immediately crumpled it back up, his nostrils flaring in anger and hurt. Then he saw Sirius Black grinning at him, his shoulders shaking as he silently laughed. Severus stood up suddenly and everyone turned to stare at him.

"Yes, Mr. Snape?" asked Professor Dockase.

Severus stood very still, though he trembled with anger. His white face grew even paler as he felt all eyes on him and he struggled to think of an answer to the professor. "I, I was," he began, "I'm sorry Professor," and he sat back down, now blushing profusely. He heard Sirius chuckling and didn't dare turn his head to look at him. He sat quietly for the rest of the class, sulking miserably.


	2. Chapter 2

1972 - 2nd Year

He ran.

Though the rain pounded upon his face in unrelenting torrents, he couldn't stop. Twice he slipped and fell in the slick grass, mud splashing all around his school robes, but he didn't notice, his mind was somewhere else, anywhere else than this horrid place. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, and it wasn't so much the humiliation than the cruelty. How could his classmates be so mean?

After his first year at Hogwarts, Severus had decided that a positive attitude would entail positive reactions from his classmates. If, perhaps, he was nice to them, they would be nice in turn. So he had offered to aid them with potions or spells, and even did favors for some. But he had been wrong. They had taken advantage of him and when he refused to help, they made him suffer.

Why did it seem as if the world were trying to destroy him? Flashes of laughing faces and cold glares raced across his mind as Severus continued running in the freezing rain, heading towards the great lake that surrounded the southern part of Hogwarts. He felt a terrible, searing pain in his chest, as if his heart were being ripped to shreds, but it did not just rip, it was being pealed away, slowly. And yet nothing was physically ailing him, this was a torment of his mind, the pain of helplessness and self-pity. He was but a boy, his heart should not have been growing into darkness, but he felt it inside him, a nameless hate feeding off his emotions, his trials and anguish.

He paused for a moment to regain his breath, for it had left him in his haste. He had stopped a few yards short of the lake, and the surface of the water shook with each rapid dart of rain shooting from the sky. The sound was like clapping, each pinpoint making its own noise, a cacophony of water. Severus knelt down on the ground, the mud soaking into his knees. He was drenched and shivered terribly. He did not understand why he was being so dramatic about being teased again, but it was also bullying this time too. Now Potter had found a little group to help him in tormenting Severus. They called themselves the Marauders in secret, but everyone knew the name.

The pale boy closed his eyes and turned his face towards the sky, as if begging the rain to stop, screaming to the clouds that had no ears to listen to his voice. Suddenly he felt something warm in his throat, something thick and metallic that was rapidly filling in his mouth. He coughed violently and spit out blood. So the spell had hit him after all. It had been that James Potter who had executed it, upon the urging of their classmates. No one had actually believed it would work, the spell was complicated and required concentration. James had merely chuckled out the words as he pointed his wand at Severus's retreating back, for he had begun to run away. As he had neared the doorway of the castle. Severus felt a slight force hit him from behind, but he had not stopped or fallen, and continued to run. Behind him he heard more laughter, some even berating James for not "getting him."

Now as Severus sat on the wet ground, wiping the blood from his chin, his throat throbbing with a dull ache, he felt completely empty, as if all his rage were slipping away. It was much more terrible than hatred, it was apathy. Did he truly no longer care that he was being mistreated? Unexpectedly, he felt more warmth touch his face, but this time it was running down his cheeks. Tears? He couldn't tell if he were truly crying, or if it was the heavy rain, but as the droplets fell towards his lips, they tasted salty.

So he could still cry after all, he was not completely uncaring of what was happening to him.

Coughing up the blood had made him a bit uneasy, and even tired. He didn't know the details of the hex, but he knew that he was to lose a bit more blood within the hour. Soon his limbs failed him and he softly crumpled to the ground, lying on his back. He didn't care that he would probably have a fever when he woke up, or that the mud was now squishing unpleasantly behind his neck. Everything was filthy and wet and dark, and he felt that that was where he belonged, where everyone wanted him to be. Alone and damp, in pain and still suffering. His eyes closed and he rested in the darkness that accepted him like a lost son.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Severus! Severus, wake up! Can you hear me? Severus..."

A worried and panicky voice was calling his name, but he couldn't reach it, as if he were being pulled away by an unseen force. He felt someone holding his shoulders and shaking them, soft ringlets of hair brushing his cheeks, and the spicy scent of cinnamon hung in the air, like a winter's morning by the fireside.

Finally he opened his eyes, and saw, to his surprise, the worried face of Lily Evans staring at him. "Lil-" he tried to say her name, but was interrupted by another coughing fit. Lily watched in horror as the boy convulsed and a small glob of blood wretched from his mouth onto the slick grass. It gleamed, slowly being washed away by the steady rain.

"Oh Severus, what have they done to you?" she cried angrily. "This is clear harassment," she said again, her cheeks flushing and her eyes ablaze, "Who was it?" Severus looked up at her, shocked. She was expressing so much passion, such vibrant emotion. It was more than he had ever possessed. It was as if she were making up for his apathy.

"Well come now, I know it was a hex, but who did it?" she commanded again, her brilliant green eyes fixated upon his. Severus didn't know what to make of her concern over him, in fact, he was afraid of it. Why was she being so...nice? Well, it wasn't exactly kind when she was watching him so intently, but she was worried about him, and that warmed his heart.

"Was it Potter?" She voiced suddenly, her revolve unshakable. Severus merely nodded. This caused the girl's anger to be enflamed again. "I knew it, that boy needs to be taught a lesson," she fumed. "He thinks he's so much better than everyone else. He may be popular, but he shouldn't let that get to his head. Obviously he's insecure, if he needs to pick on helpless, scrawny little-" she gasped suddenly, realizing what she was saying.

After an awkward silence, she finally muttered, "Sorry, I didn't mean...oh Merlin! I'm just so mad at that impudent, smug-faced pansy!" she hoped that by reverting back to flustered anger, Severus would forget how she had just described him.

However, Severus barely noticed what she had said. He was quite confused. Everyone had been laughing along with Potter and his friends, and yet the very girl whom Potter adored, was helping him. Potter's admiration for Lily was undeniable, everyone knew he liked her, even if she herself didn't want anything to do with the arrogant boy. Severus tensed, was she only helping him to get back at Potter?

He wanted to say something to her, to test if she truly cared for him, but he could not find his voice, the thick blood still coating the inside of his throat. He wiped at his chin again, feeling the blood dribble from his mouth, an aftermath of the hex. "Can't you speak?" she asked suddenly, realizing that he had not said a word yet. He merely shook his head, his oily black hair dripping with rainwater, hung down and tickled his chin as he did so. He clutched at his throat and his bottom lip trembled. Lily frowned, realizing his pain. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it hurt you so," she murmured softly, her previous anger ebbing away.

She slipped her robe over her head so that she was only wearing a vest and her skirt. Then she draped the robe like a cape over his shoulders and said, "Do you think you can get up?"

The soft robes were warm and dry from the inside, and Severus stopped shivering, though his mind seemed somewhere else. She put his arm over her shoulder and lifted him up a bit, testing this stance to see if he could walk. Lily gasped a bit, the boy looked so pale in the darkness, his white skin gleaming, almost setting off its own sheen. He still had not spoken a word, though it was clear he was miserable. She wanted to say something to ease his pain, but she didn't know how to comfort him. All she could do was defend him, patch up his wounds and care for him like a wounded animal.

Yet it seemed he did not register anything she was doing for him. She sighed, though again, he had not noticed. Lily couldn't figure out why she cared about this shrunken, pale boy in the first place. She was not helping him merely out of pity, guilt, fondness, or even a sense of morale. She did it because he was captivating, because, despite what she told herself in her mind, she wanted to be near him, to protect him somehow. She sensed that he was a fragile person at the moment, the constant torment of his classmates slowly turning him into what they already thought him to be, something deserving of their abuse. Lily realized that she wanted to save him, not just from everyone else, but from himself as well. She wanted to save him from becoming a person bent on revenge and hatred.

They were almost to the doors of the castle when suddenly, Severus pushed her away. She almost fell to the ground, but only stepped back awkwardly regaining her balance. She stared at him, confused and surprised. He was panting slightly, standing off-balanced with legs splayed apart. His long hair was all pushed to one side so that it covered one of his languid dark eyes. "Seve-" she began, but he barked out, "Don't touch me!"

He had regained his voice and was now trying to conceal a sudden rage, "Don't touch me with your filthy mudblood hands!" he shouted into the torrents of rain that were now pounding upon them both. He threw her robes back to her in disgust. Lily recoiled in shock and sudden fear. A mudblood...he had called her a mudblood...

Lily felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, though she refused to let them fall. She was deeply hurt by the boy's sudden outburst, and his voice had been filled with deep malice, as if all the hatred he felt for Potter was being directed at her. "Severus, what are you saying?" she pleaded, searching for an answer that would justify his reaction.

Severus just stood there, the anger blazing in his mind. Truly, he had not cared that she was muggle-born. He had known this fact before; it was common to know the origins of their classmates at Hogwarts. However, he had chosen this trait of hers as an anchor. He needed something, some reason for pushing her away. He couldn't bear her touch because it had been so warm and giving, her reassuring smile so full of kindness and genuine care. It caused him to panic, and he feared that it was all a lie and that one day she would betray his trust, and so he had to push her away before he got hurt. He had been searching for some reason to make her hate him, to make her leave him alone, and he had found this in her heritage. She was a mudblood, and he clung to this one fact as if it were a lifeline. He had molded the word around him lips, testing it, filling it with all his frustration and anger.

She looked so beautiful standing there, her thick her being weighed down by the pouring rain. Severus found that he was having feelings for the girl that he didn't want to have. It was only natural, after she had been so kind to him, in fact the first person who had been kind to him. But he knew that the feeling would not last, that it was just a reaction to her magnetic beauty and charisma. Everyone who met her loved her, and he was no different. The only thing to gain from loving her was disappointment and pain, and so he tried to distance them before he felt too strongly about her.

"Just leave me alone," he shouted again, and ran off towards the castle. Lily clutched at the robes he had just thrown back to her. It was still warm, even after sheltering such a cold-hearted boy. Finally, she allowed herself to cry, only a little.


	3. Chapter 3

1973 - 3rd Year

_These days grow monotonous. The constant drumming of the rain on my window is like the drumming of the footsteps that haunt the hallways of the school. They are all the same sound. I continue to excel in my studies, for what else is there to do? I do not have leisure time to spend, to enjoy, because I have nothing to enjoy. What a bore, this life. I wish that-_

"Eeek!"

Severus' quill stopped moving when he heard the piercing voice shriek. He knew that voice, and the sound of it in pain made his blood run colder than it usually did. He dropped his quill and the remaining ink would later leave a dark stain on the page he had just written on.

He ran from his room in the tower all the way to the courtyard below his window where Lily's alarmed scream had emanated from. Severus rushed past other students, trying to shove through them, but he only managed to get himself caught in their flow. He was bookish after all, and not built for strong force. Several times he almost tripped and fell, but always he recalled the sudden cry, and how full of fear it had been. He recognized the tone of it from his own yelps of panic. Severus ran smoothly, like a raven in flight, his dark hair rising and falling with each step he took.

He arrived in time to see Potter leap onto his broom and speed off into the air where a girl was hanging, suspended by some invisible force, or that which was too small to be seen from so far away. Potter caught the girl in his arms in a quick motion, her limp form slumping against his shoulder like a doll. Unmistakably it was Lily Evans. Still in the sky, Severus heard tiny tinkling noises, all seeming to revolve in the air, carried by the wind. He soon recognized that it was the sound of pixies...laughing. They had taken Lily into the air as a joke.

They suddenly swarmed together so that their tiny forms could be seen as one collective mass, a bright cerulean ball of pixies laughing together. Severus' face hardened in concentration. At least he could get rid of the pixies for her. However, just as the thought to act crossed his mind, James' wand had been whipped out and suddenly the pixies were encased in a glass cube. Their faces immediately changed to angry expressions and they cried out soundlessly inside their sparkling prison.

Lily had begun to awaken, she had been knocked out because the pixies had carried her too high into the air for her lungs to breathe. "Hold on, Lily," James whispered to her reassuringly, "I'll get you to the clinic as soon as possible." He looked determined and confident as he gathered her up into his arms and began heading towards the clinic. He did not ask anyone for help, but kept going straight, as if he were sure he could take care of her on his own. However, Lily began to frown and struggled in his arms, "L-let go of me please," she mumbled, her head still a bit dizzy. As she fumbled in his grasp, Potter smiled cockily, "Don't worry, I've got you," and he winked at her. That made her quiet.

Severus had still been hiding in the shadows, angry at himself for letting her be saved by someone else, by James Potter, no less. What a hero that Potter turned out to be, what idiotic dumb luck, most likely. Severus couldn't stand the way he was, even as he had arrived and seen her body hanging in the air, he had been paralyzed from fear, only chancing to react moments too late. He stalked off, glad that no one had seen how foolishly he had behaved, running like a madman down the tower. Why had he even bothered? She already had her knight in shining armor.

The evening was late and Severus had been walking for a long while now. He had not gone back to his room after the dramatics of the afternoon and he had begun to walk without direction or destination. He stopped now, suddenly realizing he was in the library. It was massive and dark, as if time were frozen in the books that captured it. Severus began walking between the tall shelves, seeing other students sitting nearby, studying or reading leisurely. The shelves were like the walls of a prison, closing in on him, and yet he felt protected from the rest of the world, shielded by the old books. They held promise and words that would speak to him without judgment. Suddenly he stopped at a particularly empty section and reached out to pull a book from the shelf. He did not know why he chose that specific book, but the binding had been darkened and dulled by age and time so that it stood on the shelf, unnoticeable and forgotten. The cover was rough and peeling and it smelled..familiar.

Severus opened the book, now sliding down to the floor, not wanting to sit at a table. The inside page said, "The Sable Practices: A History of the Dark Arts, By Sextemus Lynnagon." Severus felt a sort of calm settle over him as he sat there, alone, with this forgotten book in his grasp. He turned the page again to find an epigraph apparently handwritten on the page:

_This book has been allowed in the school library for the purpose of education in the dark arts and its prevention spells. All spells, hexes, and curses contained herein are strictly prohibited and their study may only be associated with DEFENSE against the dark arts and not use of them._

The young boy sneered a bit and began to thumb through the pages, eyeing diagrams of hex circles that had to be drawn onto the floors or depictions of dark mages from times before, some glaring at him, others smiling invitingly. Severus read for hours on the library floor, a small huddled figure as alone and undisturbed as the old books on the shelves. He was on page 589 when a bright light shone upon him, causing him to drop the book and shield his eyes. "Oh, oh my!" cried a nervous voice from behind the light. It was Madame Lorxa, the timid librarian of the school.

She was mousy and slender, and actually had quite a lovely face, though she was always hiding in her bushy hair. "Wh-what are you still doing here?" she demanded, waving the lamplight around. "Severus stood up, clutching the book under his arm and holding up his other hand to wave her forward. "I was only reading. Is that wrong?" he muttered darkly, and pulled the edge of his robes tightly around his bony figure, as if he were shying away from the light. Madame Lorxa fumbled with her glasses a bit, eyeing him warily. "Well it looks to me like you should be getting off to bed soon. It's nearly eleven o' clock! How could I have not noticed you before? Hiding back here in the shadows like this, my word!" She continued to mutter to herself nervously, and began to walk away.

Severus stared after her for a moment and she suddenly scuttled back, taking his arm in her surprisingly firm grip. "Oh dear, look at me, I've forgotten you! Come now boy, off to your quarters, else Mr. Verminot shall be angry with you," and she led him towards the exit, walking hurriedly. She was quite a scatterbrained young woman. When he was heading for the door she cried out, "Excuse me, young man. Aren't you going to check that book out? Or would you rather have me put it back for you?"

Severus froze and turned back around, putting on an innocent face. He slowly walked up to her counter, neatly arranged and decorated with many floral patterns. Quickly, he slid the book face down on the smooth wooden tabletop and got out his library card. The photo of his face was glaring from its perch, eyeing the world suspiciously. Madame Lorxa briskly took the book, turning it over and absentmindedly placing a card inside, inscribing his name on a long list. "Snape, Severus is it?" she mused, looking at him from under her glasses, "and why would a student like you have need of a book on the dark arts, may I ask?"

Apparently, she was not as timid a woman as she appeared to be, and she was now scrutinizing him as if there were some secret to be found from his face. Severus, however, was not shaken in the least. His face still retained its masked innocence and he looked up at her, a slight glint in his eye, his voice thick as honey, "Why Madame, I need to do a report for my Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Then he smiled at her, though it looked more sour than sweet.

Madame Lorxa looked him up and down again and slowly handed back the book. "Due in three weeks, young man. That should be ample time. Now get off to bed."

Severus gave her one last grin and darkly strode off, imbued with some sort of new confidence. In his hands he held the dark arts, spells of a different world, ones that no one else knew, and only he could teach himself. He hurried up to his dormitory, careful not to get caught by Mr. Verminot.

As he entered his room he was appalled to find that all of his belongings had been ripped to shreds, and strangely, everything was shimmering blue. Only the possessions of his roommates had been left untouched. His roommates were, as usual, not in bed. They had taken to the habit of sneaking out of their dormitories late at night. He never knew where they went, but they were usually gone until 3am. This night, they were nowhere to be seen.

The bedsheets were torn and laden with soot, and his clothes looked as if tiny little fingers had been prodding at them. There were feathers everywhere from his down pillow and all his books were scattered on the floor, some of the pages ripped out of them. His desk was covered in dark ink, still dripping onto the floor from the corner of the writing desk and the entry he had written in his journal was doodled all over in teeny tiny pictures, as if the culprit were no larger than a small fairy.

Severus dashed towards the writing desk, enraged that someone had dared even look at his entry. What uses were journal anyway? He did not know why he bothered carrying one around. As he got nearer to the desk, he noticed something dark and glittering. It was very small, and it only moved a little, but his quick eyes caught it right away. He crept closer still, quietly raising his wand. As soon as he was a few feet away he saw at it was a pixie! It was sleeping so that it did not glow brightly. Severus gasped unwillingly and the pixie woke up, immediately illuminating the entire room with its light. As soon as its eyes opened in surprise, Severus yelled, "Petrificus totalus!" and the pixie froze in midair, for by then, it had begun to fly away, not wishing to stay in his presence when her friends were not there to protect her.

The young boy sighed, tired as an old man, and knelt down the pick up the small creature who had fallen to the ground. This spell would not hold a pixie for long, its magic was too strong. He would have to keep it contained in a glass box like Potter had done, or a cold iron cage. But where were the rest of them? He had found this one sleeping all by herself, apparently left by her fellow pixies, but if she was still here, did that mean that the rest of them were too?

He stood up, eyeing the room carefully, his wand at the ready. It suddenly dawned on him that there had to be a reason that pixies had ransacked his room. Someone had let them out, someone had let them out specifically in his room. It had to be Potter!


End file.
